...this is the ninth undead issue of ST NEWS, Volume 9 Issue 1?...it is the 36th issue in total?...it was finished on March 11th 1994?...this issue is dedicated to Douglas Adams, the man who became 42 on this issue's release day?...March 11th, incidentally, is also the birthday of Harold Wilson (of the Beach Boys) and Nina Hagen (that screaming German woman)?...ST NEWS now has a built-in screen blanker, though in the main menu only?...it will turn black all colours after two minutes of no action?...it will turn back all colours when moving the mouse or pressing a key?...I haven't built one in the page viewer mode yet, but I may do that next time?...the overall program has also been made Falcon compatible and was totally debugged?...if you still find any bugs, please report them to me?...the music has been conceived by Big Alec once more?...we are again very proud to offer this song called "Punish Your Machine"?...this tune is the last of the old Big Alec tunes we have lying around?...I'd like to extend serious thanks to Gard - yes, the Insanely Witty One as ever - that helped make it Falcon-compatible?...we have a further half dozen truly spectacular pieces of music by Big Alec lying around?...they are truly stunning, I think, using advanced sound processing and stuff?...you can expect them in the next issue of ST NEWS for the first time?...you should peruse the "READ THIS!!" article in the "Features" pull-down menu and act accordingly to it?...your cooperation would mean the world to me?...all American readers out there should note that Dan Hollis' address has changed?...his new address is listed in the "Colophon" article?...all German readers should be aware that Guido Stumpe's address has changed, too, or at least his postal code?..., again, you're directed to the "Colophon" thang for the specifics?...I understand the previous issue's "FEATURES.TOS" was difficult to unpack?...same machines caused it to crash, and if seemed to refuse to unpack when you didn't have loads of free Kb of memory?...you can get rid of the first 4922 bytes of it and then unpack it using ZIP 2.2 or higher?...you can alternatively rename it to FEATURES.ZIP and just use it with ZIP?...I will refrain from using this kind of thing as of now?...the PROGRAMS folder will just contain ready-to-run stuff or I will put "ST Zip" on the disk unarchived?..."ST Zip" version 3.4 is to be found on this issue's disk?...you can also use that to unarchive the stuff on the previous issue's disk?...this issue features more writings by Michael Noyce?...he also encouraged a friend of his to write?...I would thus like to welcome Philip Mason?...the ST Club address has changed?...it's now 7 Musters Road, Nottingham NG2 7PP, England, and their phone number is now 0602-455250?...you should take care not to order any ST NEWS issues from their old address?...their name has also changed a bit?...it now seems to be "FaST Club" (Falcon ST Club)?...the order requirements for Lars Johansson, our Swedish distributor, have changed somewhat?...you only need to enclose disks, IRCs and 10 Skr if the issue you want is 2 years old or older?...if you order less ancient issues you just need to send disks and IRCs, no money needed?...I finally have a Falcon now?...I got it in the last couple of days of October last year?...I'd like to thank Marc and Willem of ACN for arranging it for me?...The "Perverts Monthly" column, highly acclaimed especially by the British, has been discontinued due to the joke wearing a little thin according to its writers?...Ringpull and his mates will continue writing other stuff though?...that included the "GEM Programming" course and perhaps future coding-oriented pieces?...this was the first issue of ST NEWS finished entirely without the presence of the ex-Master Editor, Stefan Posthuma?...he was trying to break some extremental bones in the Austrian snow with his sister at the time?

Atari - General

...Atari stocks have risen 70% in October?...it's all due to the Jaguar?...a lot of people have gotten very rich when dealing with Atari shares?...I wish I had know about this kind of thing beforehand?

Atari - Jaguar

...the Jaguar will sell at US$ 249 over in the States?...the US$ 50 price increase is due to the bundled game?...regular Jaguar cartridges will vary in price between US$ 49 and 89, thus quoth Atari?...all currently available 16 meg games will cost US$ 49.99?...the Dutch Jaguar price will be Hfl 498?...the CD unit is set for a mid 94 release, and will probably set you back about US$ 200?...this price is not yet officially confirmed, but just an estimate?...I have reason to believe the CD ROM might actually be delayed a bit?...developers have only received their CD-ROM machines in January of this year, and Atari wants to have some games finishes by the time it goes on sale?...the CD ROM drive will be a double-speed thing capable of 350 Kb per second data transfer, or the usual 175 Kb per second audio rate?...a CD can store about 700 Mb, but using compression it can be a lot more?...the CD ROM will also interface with audio CD, Karaoke CD, CD+Graphics and optional Kodak Photo CD?...some of the latest companies signed by Atari to develop on the Jaguar include Virgin, Interplay, Microprose, UBI Soft, Gremlin Graphics, Millenium and Accolade, 21st Century Software, Activision, ID Software, Phalanx, Brainstorm and 3D Games?...Atari have signed a total of 48 new partners since January 1st?...companies include Elite, HiSoft, Argonaut, Jaleco, Bullfrog, Teque and Domark?...Accolade will bring "Bubsy - Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind", "Jack Nicklaus Golf", "Al Michaels Announces Hard Ball", "Brett Hull Hockey" and "Charles Barkley Basketball" to the Jag?...Activision will convert their PC hit, "Return to Zork"?...this will be a CD ROM game?...ID Software will do "Doom: Evil Unleashed", which is a first person perspective 3D game, which will be published by Atari?..."Doom" is a drool-invoking PC title too (see more info in the Falcon 030 section, below)?...Microprose adds to the list "3D Gunship 2000"?...UBI Soft will release "Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis", and they are intent on doing a lot more (mostly - probably exclusively - simulations)?...Gremlin, to close off this list, will do "Zool 2"?...Jeff Minter will do a game called "Tempest 2000"?...more about this may be read in Jeff's own column in this issue of ST NEWS, "The Nature of the Beast"?...Jez San (of Argonaut, of "Starglider" fame) will do a CD ROM game for it?...he's extremely excited by the hardware?...the game Interplay is doing will also be a CD ROM game?...the Jaguar has a tentative European release date of June or July now?...this date used to be March, but is postponed because American consumer demands exceed expectations?...I've witnessed "Cybermorph" on the Jag last January at Atari Benelux?...I was rather impressed?...there's already mention of a sequel, "Battlemorph"?...rumours include a full texture-mapped landscape, a texture- mapped ship, mountains that appear gently instead of popping up suddenly, and a digital stereo soundtrack accompanying the game?...there's really only a few chips inside the Jag, something like two custom chips (including a non-Motorala totally custom DPS), an 68000 and some (I guess) RAM chips (the Jag has 2 Mb of 64 bit RAM)?...it really looks like nothing, despite the power is possesses?...at Atari Benelux people are already mentioning a "Jaguar II"?...they guess it should be ready by the time Nintendo have their 64 bit reply to the original Jaguar?...there is interesting news about the supposed Jaguar competition?...the Sega Saturn will be a twin-processor 32 bit (two 32 bit processors) system running an Operating System to be written by (this is serious!) Microsoft?...it will cost around US$500 and that includes a quad-speed CD?...the 64 bit Nintendo machine is highly rumoured, as some people consider the Silicon Graphics deal a load of hot air?...even when done, it won't see the market until well in 1995?...the 3DO has flopped all over the globe?...Sanyo, the people that were to do the marketing, have pulled out?...most 3DO software is educational, too?...all 3DO developers are dissatisfied with the actual development surroundings, what with all things having to be done by an Operating System for example?...a new CD-ROM-based machine by Sony will see the light of day next year (possibly late this year in Japan)?...no further details are known about this?...the Jag got "Best New Product of 1993" awards in the "Die Hard Game Fan", "Game Informer" and "Video Game" magazines?...Atari have licenced the "QSound" principle for use on the Jaguar?...this is a revolutionary sound principle that is as much better as stereo as stereo was better than mono?...it will be able to reproduce true surround within-the-music sound from conventional stereo equipment (even quite crap speakers, as long as they're stereo)?...some CDs have been recorded using this technique already, though I haven't heard them personally?...a CD like this is Sting's "The Soul Cages"?...the idea is that you need no hardware whatsoever?...in the studio special equipment would be needed when recording the CD, and the Jaguar's internal DSP processor could do all the fancy stuff needed to process that kind of sound on the Jag?...an article on QSound can be found elsewhere in this issue?

Atari - Falcon 030

...in the U.S. Falcon sales are increasing due to the extra interest created by the Jaguar?...a Monitor Switch Box for the Falcon currently exists?...it effectively renders all those separate Falcon monitor adapters useless?...it replaces your ST monitor and VGA monitor connectors?...UK Falcon prices have gone down?...a 1 meg no HD Falcon will set you back £499 and 4 Meg with 80 Mb HD £799?...the one meg no HD version is utterly useless, of course, unless you want to expand its memory yourself and slam in a bigger hard disk such as I have?...NOBODY SHOULD EVEN THINK it's possible to work satisfactorily on a 1 Mb no HD Falcon?...some more Falcon games should be available around now?...titles include "Humans", "Steel Talons" (requires extended joystick, like "Llamazap") and "Evolution Dino Dudes"?...their prices are somewhat hefty at £29.99?...I have heard that some of the games are entirely finished with only a few contractual matters still having to be sorted out, whereas other are finished but without packaging yet?...Lankhor/Ubisoft is doing a title called "Black Sect"?...a game that you should definitely keep your eyes peeled for is "Lasers and Man", an originally French game?...it might be the closest Falcon owners ever get to something like "Wolfenstein" or, more particularly, "Doom" on the PC?...any PC enthusiast will be happy to tell you all about "Doom"?...the good thing is that it's shareware?!...Mirage has trashed their "Space Junk" Falcon project?...it will not be a PC-only CD ROM game?...21st Century Entertainment (what previously used to be Hewson) is trying to release a Falcon game called "Pinball Dreams"?...no distributor wants to touch it though?...if you want info you can contact them at 56b Milton Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RX, England?...the Bitmap Brother game "Chaos Engine" was already converted for the Falcon, basically, but as they didn't seem to get enhanced graphics they put that on ice too?...there's a story going round that U.S. Gold won't be finishing a Falcon version of "Legends of Valour" due to a dispute with Atari involving hardware and papers?

Atari - Falcon 040

...the English press has been known to say that Atari will never do a Falcon 040?...Atari firmly confirms the fact that they never proclaimed anything about a Falcon 040 themselves?...chances are considerable that they will do a new kind of computer based on Jaguar hardware?...it will still be a TOS-compatible computer?

Atari - Lynx

...some of the latest Lynx releases (winter CES releases) are (or will be) Atari's "Ninja Gaiden III", "Kasumi Ninja", "Raiden" and "Eye of the Beholder", Telegames' "Super Off Road", "Krazy Ace Miniature Golf" and "Desert Strike" and Beyond Games' "Ultra Vortex"?...about four games have appeared on the Lynx in January alone?...Atari still has contracts amounting to 40 forthcoming Lynx games?...some selected remarks concerning recent Lynx games can be read elsewhere in this issue of ST NEWS?

Software - Disk Magazines

..."ST Enthusiasts Newsletter" (a.k.a. "STEN") has died?...their issue 15 (the 16th issue in total), released later November last year, was to be the last one ever?...they have left the ST disk magazine world with a bang, however, as issue 15 is actually pretty spiffin'?...more comments can be read in the regular disk magazine article?...I hope we will not have heard the last of the sympathetic "STEN" editors, Dave Mooney and John Weller?..."Maggie" issue 13 has been released?...it's as excellent as ever?...more remarks elsewhere?

Software - General

...Microdeal has gone bust?...this sad fact happened in December last year?...I think the presence of Microdeal and their really bona-fide managing director, John Symes, will be felt throughout the Atari community?...all Microdeal products (and the name) have been bought by HiSoft and still available through them?...Llamasoft have secured the rights to previous Atari offerings, "Defender II" and "Photon Storm"?...these are now available at ludicrously grabworthy prices of £5 and £6 each respectively (as opposed to the previous rrp of £20)?...they nowadays give away free copies of "Andes Attack" and "Super Gridrunner" when registering their shareware releases?...this is an even better incentive to registering shareware?...Trace Tech's "Squish II" program has been updated?...the new version is now 2.12?...Griff, formerly of Digital Images or something, has now joined a Falcon crew called 'Digital Chaos'?...he's working on a Falcon Spectrum Emulator (I am not sure whether that's the rubber-keyed computer or the excellent drawing program), and the crew is working with him on some Falcon demos?...Gribnif's "NeoDesk" version 4, originally set for a release late last year, has been postponed twice?...at first it was to be released early February, in time for a review in this issue of ST NEWS?...unfortunately it has been delayed until the end of March now, i.e. too late for this issue?...I am confident that every extra week that's gone in the product will show, though?...a review of "NeoDesk" 4 may be expected in ST NEWS VOlume 9 Issue 2?...Compo should release "Musicom 2" for the Falcon soon?...it will set you back US$ 150 (US$ 69 for updates)?

Miscellaneous (personal stuff and other)

...Niclas Malmqvist (Tanis of TCB) has engaged?...she is called Charlottah?...Ronny Hatlemark, who used to be our Norwegian distributor and the first of the Genuine Nutties, no longer lives together with Anne-Grete, who used to be his soulmate from early 1990 on?...they split somewhere in October last year?...Mike Watson of Sinister Development, man behind "FBoot" and "New Depack" (previously "Mega Depack") has sold his Falcon and switched to the PC?...I think that's a shame?...Thalion sortof doesn't exist anymore?...it is now merely some kind of distribution company, with all original employees having gone?...Karsten Koper (designed "Amberstar" on ST/Amiga and "Ambermoon" on Amiga) is now software salesperson at Korona in Gutersloh?...Monika Krawinkel (graphics of "Amberstar", "Seven Gates of Jambala" and, before her Thalion time, Rainbow Arts' "Bad Cat") is now a mother?...Andreas and Gunther (who did freelance work for Thalion, but also known as Ilja of Level 16 and 6719 of TEX respectively) are now confirmed Apple Mac enthusiasts?...Michael Bittner (a.k.a. TNT Crew, author of "Trex Warrior", "Warp" and countless internal tools) quit in August of 1993, and is now doing freelance work for both Blue Byte and Eclipse - particularly keen on doing stuff on Falcon and Jaguar?...Jochen Hippel (a.k.a. Mad Max, the sound programmer), tried to make it in the car repair business but failed, swayed to alcohol slightly, and is now getting taught in the D.I.Y. market business?...Willi Carmincke (against whom I had a personal grudge) and Manuela (the secretary against whose physical appearance I had not the slightest grudge whatsoever) were let go?...Chris Jungen ("No Second Prize" and the intro to "Airbus"), Thorsten Mutschall (a.k.a. Gogo of TCB, graphics or numerous games amongs which Rainbow Arts' "Spherical"), Juri Horneman (Relayer of QX, programmer of "Amberstar" and "Ambermoon") and Erik Simon (a.k.a. ES of TEX, graphics person and designer) are the only ones still left?...they now work at the old Thalion office still, but their income and rent is now paid by Blue Byte?...Juri is working on a large role playing game and Christian is programming a 3D helicopter simulator?...Corporal Torbjørn Ose (previously a.k.a. Lord HackBear), who has been in the Norwegian army since early summer 1993, will get out probably in April this year?...it is to be hoped that he'll be continueing work on Atari?...that's all that has to be said here?...I certainlly hope to meet all of you again in the next issue of ST NEWS, Volume 9 Issue 2?

Disclaimer
The text of the articles is identical to the originals like they appeared
in old ST NEWS issues. Please take into consideration that the author(s)
was (were) a lot younger and less responsible back then. So bad jokes,
bad English, youthful arrogance, insults, bravura, over-crediting and
tastelessness should be taken with at least a grain of salt. Any contact
and/or payment information, as well as deadlines/release dates of any
kind should be regarded as outdated. Due to the fact that these pages are
not actually contained in an Atari executable here, references to scroll
texts, featured demo screens and hidden articles may also be irrelevant.